THIS IS WHAT 'HEINOUS EVIL' LOOKS LIKE

A volunteer in Israel says the Gaza region looks like the set of a horror movie now, with 'burnt-out cars' and 'bodies strewn all across the road'

HAMAS WAS AN EXCUSE TO DO WHAT ISRAEL WANTED TO DO ANYWAYS

Kwan Wei Kevin Tan
Mon, October 9, 2023 

The rubble of destroyed buildings and mosque after an Israeli air strike in Gaza City on October 9.Sameh Rahmi/NurPhoto via Getty Images

A volunteer in Israel says the region around Gaza now resembles a horror movie set.


Josh Wander told The Daily Beast he is working to help recover bodies of civilians killed in Israel.


"You're literally driving around bodies as you're driving down the main roads there," Wander said.

A volunteer working to recover the bodies of civilians killed in Israel says the conflict following Hamas' attacks has transformed the region around Gaza into a scene of continuous horror.

"Just driving down from my home in Jerusalem to that area, it is like walking into a horror movie," Josh Wander, a volunteer with ZAKA, a rescue and recovery organization in Israel, told the Daily Beast in a story published Monday.

"You're looking out on both sides of the road and you're seeing burnt-out cars flipped over on the side of the road, many of them riddled with bullets, bodies strewn all across the road," Wander added. "You're literally driving around bodies as you're driving down the main roads there."

Wander told the Daily Beast that he thinks of the Hamas attacks as "the Pearl Harbor and the 9/11 of Israel all wrapped in one." And recovering the bodies — especially those of children — has been difficult, even for "hardened, seasoned volunteers," Wander added.

Hamas launched a surprise attack on Israel on Saturday, firing thousands of rockets from Gaza. The Palestinian militant group also fired at civilians attending the Tribe of Nova Music Festival happening a few miles from the border. At least 260 bodies have been recovered from the music festival attack.

CNN's chief international correspondent Clarissa Ward, reporting from the ground in Israel, also came across several bodies when driving through the area, including those of dead Hamas militants. Ward said that many festival attendees were still missing after being taken hostage by fighters from Hamas.

"Many of them are still missing. Many of them are dead. It's been very difficult to try and get a precise number," Ward said in her report.

On Sunday, Israel declared a "state of war," with officials saying their goal was to eliminate Hamas and take complete control of Gaza.

Civilian deaths and injuries have been reported on both sides. Israeli authorities said that the conflict has claimed the lives of more than 900 Israelis. According to the Gaza Ministry of Health, at least 687 people in Gaza have been killed, with thousands more injured.

On Monday, Israel's Defense Minister Yoav Gallant said he'd ordered a "complete siege" of the Gaza Strip. This means some 2.2 million people inside the blockaded area will have no outside access to electricity, food, or fuel.

A representative for ZAKA did not immediately respond to a request for comment from Insider sent outside regular business hours.

Photos show the devastation in Gaza since Israel launched its counterattack

Grace Eliza Goodwin,Elias Chavez
Mon, October 9, 2023 

Lightning strikes as smoke billows following Israeli bombardment of Gaza City on October 9, 2023.Mohammed Abed/AFP via Getty Images

Israel's counteroffensive began over the weekend and continued into Monday, October 9.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu announced a "complete siege" of Gaza on Monday, cutting off electricity and the flow of food, water, and supplies.

Photos show neighborhoods in Gaza reduced to rubble and entire buildings leveled.

Content note: This article contains graphic images of violence.

Days of fighting have rocked the Middle East after Hamas militants launched a series of attacks on Israel early Saturday morning, beginning the deadliest conflict between Gaza and Israel in decades.

At least 687 Palestinians have been killed and 3,800 more have been injured, according to Gaza's Health Ministry. At least 900 Israelis were killed and more than 2,500 others have been injured, according to Israeli authorities. According to a statement by President Biden, at least 11 Americans citizens were also among those killed.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu formally declared war against Hamas on Saturday and announced a "complete siege" of Gaza on Monday.

Since launching its aggressive counterattack on the Gaza Strip over the weekend, Israel continued with heavy airstrikes onto the Palestinian territory well into Monday evening.

On Monday, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu announced a "complete siege" of Gaza as Israeli forces continued to bombard the Palestinian enclave with airstrikes.

A fireball erupts during Israeli bombardment of Gaza City on October 9, 2023.Mohammed Abed/AFP via Getty Images

Under the siege, Gaza would be cut off from electricity and the flow of food, water, and supplies.

Palestinians mourn the death of their relatives.Mahmud Hams/AFP via Getty Images

Israeli airstrikes have leveled entire buildings in Gaza.

People walk through a destroyed street in Gaza on Sunday.MOHAMED ZAANOUN/Getty Images

With over 2 million residents living within 140 square miles, Gaza is one of the most densely populated regions in the world, Insider previously reported.

Hundreds of sites across Gaza have been reduced to rubble.

A group of people stand beside bombed out cars and buildings in Gaza on Sunday.MOHAMED ZAANOUN/Getty Images

The Israel Defense Forces claims it has hit over 1,000 targets within Gaza.

An Israeli airstrike hit a refugee camp in Gaza, destroying a busy shopping center as well as surrounding buildings and cars.

Palestinians search for survivors after an Israeli airstrike on buildings in the refugee camp of Jabalia in the Gaza Strip on October 9, 2023.Mohammed Abed/AFP via Getty Images

Jabalia is the largest of the Gaza Strip's eight refugee camps. As of 2019, 5.6 million Palestinian refugees were registered with the United Nations Relief and Works Agency. Of those, around 1.7 million were in the Gaza Strip.

Dozens were killed and wounded in the attack on the Jabalia refugee camp.

People carry the body of a Palestinian killed in Israeli strikes, in Jabalia refugee camp, October 9, 2023.Reuters/Mahmoud Issa

Several mosques have also been destroyed, including the Yassin mosque.

Yassin mosque was destroyed after it was hit by an Israeli airstrike at Shati refugee camp in Gaza City, Monday, October 9, 2023.AP Photo/Adel Hana

As well as the Sousi mosque in Gaza City.

The Sousi mosque in Gaza City after an airstrike on Monday.MAHMUD HAMS/Getty Images

Following the attack on the Sousi mosque, Palestinians worked to evacuate a body from the destruction.

Sousi mosque after an airstrike on October 9, 2023.Mahmud Hams/AFP via Getty Images

Palestinian rescuers across Gaza have been scouring the rubble for injured people.

Smoke rises from the Jabalia refugee camp on Monday.Mahmud Hams/Getty Images

As the death toll continues to rise, Palestinians mourn the deaths of friends and family.

Palestinians mourn the death of their relatives following an Israeli airstrike on the refugee camp of Jabalia in the Gaza Strip on October 9, 2023.Mahmud Hams/AFP via Getty Images

Palestinians pray over the bodies of those they have lost in Gaza.

Bodies of people killed in Jabalia on October 9, 2023.Mahmud Hams / AFP via Getty

Plumes of black smoke covered the skies above Gaza on Monday.

Smoke rising during an Israeli airstrike on Gaza on Monday, October 9, 2023.MAHMUD HAMS/Getty Images

Airstrikes continued into the night amidst blackouts.

Smoke rises in the night sky after Israeli airstrikes on the center of Gaza.Ashraf Amra/Anadolu Agency via Getty Images


Photos: Israel declares war, bombards Gaza after Hamas attack

Times Photography Wire Services
Mon, October 9, 2023 

Palestinians inspect the damage following an Israeli airstrike on the Sousi mosque in Gaza City on Monday. (Mahmud Hams / AFP/Getty Images)

The Israeli government promised Monday to hunt down Hamas fighters and to punish the Gaza Strip after a surprise weekend attack killed more than 700 people in Israel, including at least 260 at a crowded music festival that became the scene of one of the country’s worst civilian massacres.

A day after formally declaring war, Israel's military was pursuing Hamas fighters who might remain in southern towns and intensified its bombardment of Gaza, where almost 500 people have died since Saturday's unprecedented incursion.

The militants blew through a fortified border fence and gunned down civilians and soldiers in Israeli communities along the Gaza frontier during a Jewish holiday. Israel struck back with airstrikes, including one that flattened a 14-story tower that held Hamas offices.

Israeli Tanks move into position as the military stage and guard its positions near Mavki'im, Israel. (Marcus Yam/Marcus Yam / Los Angeles Times)

A ball of fire and smoke rises above a building in Gaza City as people on a nearby rooftop watch, left, during an Israeli airstrike that hit the Palestine Tower building. (Mahmud Hams / AFP/Getty Images)

A Palestinian boy walks past the Sousi mosque after it was leveled by an Israeli airstrike in Gaza City on Monday. (Majdi Fathi/Associated Press)

More rockets are fired toward Israel from the Gaza Strip on Sunday, a day after Hamas fighters carried out a multifront attack on Israel. (Fatima Shbair/Associated Press)

Palestinian relatives mourn over the body of Ahmad Awawda, 19, who was killed in clashes between Hamas militants and Israeli troops near the city of Nablus. (Majdi Mohammed / Associated Press)

A plume of smoke rises from an Israeli airstrike on the Gaza Strip on Monday as Israel relentlessly pounded the enclave. (Anadolu Agency / Getty Images)

A woman cries during the funeral of Israeli Col. Roi Levy at the Mount Herzl cemetery in Jerusalem. Levy was killed in fighting with Hamas militants who stormed from the blockaded Gaza Strip into nearby Israeli towns. (Maya Alleruzzo/AP)

Palestinians celebrate after an Israeli tank was destroyed in an attack by Hamas fighters at the Gaza Strip boundary east of Khan Younis on Saturday. (Hassan Eslaiah / Associated Press)

This story originally appeared in Los Angeles Times.


Israel-Gaza conflict as seen in photos

Dylan Stableford and Yahoo News Photo Staff
Updated Mon, October 9, 2023 

Smoke and flames billow after Israeli forces struck a high-rise tower in Gaza City on Saturday. (Ashraf Amra/Reuters)

The Palestinian militant group Hamas launched a surprise raid into Israel over the weekend, killing hundreds of people and injuring thousands more in an attack that was likened to 9/11. The assault came one day after the 50th anniversary of the 1973 Yom Kippur War, in which a coalition of Arab states attacked Israel.

Live updates: Death toll reaches 1,400, including 9 U.S. citizens >>>

Israel declared a "state of war" with air retaliatory strikes and ordered a blockade on the Gaza Strip, which is located between Egypt and Israel and is home to more than 2 million Palestinians. Hamas launched the attack from Gaza, which it has governed since 2006.

Palestinian rescuers work at the site of Israeli strikes at a refugee camp in the northern Gaza Strip on Monday. (Mahmoud Issa/Reuters)

“There will be no electricity, no food, no fuel, everything is closed," Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant said Monday. "We are fighting human animals and we are acting accordingly."

More than 700 Israeli civilians, including over 250 people attending a music festival, and members of the military were killed by the Palestinian militant group, with an additional 2,150 wounded, as confirmed by Israeli officials Monday. Almost 600 people have been killed on the Gaza Strip from Israel’s retaliatory airstrikes, according to the enclave's Health Ministry.

Palestinians search for survivors in the rubble of a house in the southern Gaza Strip on Sunday. (Ibraheem Abu Mustafa/Reuters)

At least nine U.S. citizens are among those killed, a U.S. National Security Council spokesperson confirmed Monday morning.

Tanks and drones were deployed to guard breaches in the border fence between Israel and Gaza to prevent new incursions, the Associated Press reported.

A rocket is fired by Palestinian militants from Gaza City toward Israel on Saturday. (Mohammed Salem/Reuters)

“Thousands of Israelis were evacuated from more than a dozen towns near Gaza, and the military summoned 300,000 reservists — a massive mobilization in a short time,” the AP said.

Reuters reported Monday that Israel's military sent phone messages warning Palestinians to leave some areas of Gaza after Saturday's deadly Hamas raid, but many did not know where to go.

"Where should we go? Where should we go?" Mohammad Brais, 55, told the news service.

Brais fled his home and sought shelter at his shop — only for that to get hit in one of the hundreds of air and artillery strikes already pounding Gaza.

A rescuer carries a wounded Palestinian boy following an Israeli airstrike on Gaza City on Monday. (Eyad Baba/AFP via Getty Images)

People react at the site of a rocket attack in Tel Aviv, Israel, on Saturday. (Itai Ron/Reuters)

A view of the Al Garbi Mosque following an airstrike in western Gaza City on Monday. (Ashraf Amra/Anadolu Agency via Getty Images)

Israelis inspect a residential building damaged by a rocket in Ashkelon, Israel, on Monday. (Erik Marmor/AP)

Emergency personnel secure the scene following a rocket attack in Ashdod, Israel, on Monday. (Ahmad Gharabli/AFP via Getty Images)

Palestinians remove a dead body from the rubble of a building following an Israeli airstrike on the Jabalia refugee camp in the Gaza Strip on Monday. (Ramez Mahmoud/AP )

People take cover inside a bomb shelter in Ashkelon, Israel, on Sunday. (Ronen Zvulun/Reuters)

People mourn those killed in an Israeli airstrike in Gaza City on Monday. (Fatima Shbair/AP)

Damage in the aftermath of an Israeli airstrike on the Sousi Mosque in Gaza City on Monday. (Mahmud Hams/AFP via Getty Images)

An Israeli soldier patrols near a police station in Sderot, Israel, on Sunday. (Ronen Zvulun/Reuters)

A person is pulled alive from the rubble of a house destroyed in Israeli strikes in the southern Gaza Strip on Monday. (Ibraheem Abu Mustafa/Reuters)

Palestinians evacuate the area following an Israeli airstrike on the Sousi Mosque in Gaza City on Monday. (Mahmud Hams/AFP via Getty Images)

People mourn those killed in an Israeli airstrike in Gaza City on Monday. (Fatima Shbair/AP)

Israelis leave an area near the site of a rocket attack in Ashkelon, Israel, on Monday. (Ohad Zwigenberg/AP)

People remove the body of a Palestinian killed in an airstrikes on the Jabalia refugee camp in the northern Gaza Strip on Monday. (Mahmoud Issa/Reuters)

Relatives react as they attend a funeral in Gaza City on Monday. (Mohammed Salem/Reuters)

A woman cries during the funeral of Israeli Col. Roi Levy, who was killed by Hamas militants, at the Mount Herzl cemetery in Jerusalem on Monday. (Maya Alleruzzo/AP)

A man looks at destruction left by a rocket fired from the Gaza Strip in Ashkelon, Israel, on Monday. (Ohad Zwigenberg/AP)

A man sits on the rubble of a building in the southern Gaza Strip on Monday. (Ibraheem Abu Mustafa/Reuters)

A body is removed from the rubble in the southern Gaza Strip on Monday. (Ibraheem Abu Mustafa/Reuters)

Mourners carry the bodies of twin Palestinian babies, who health officials said were killed along with their mother and three sisters in Israeli strikes, in the southern Gaza Strip on Sunday. (Ibraheem Abu Mustafa/Reuters)

First responders inspect the site of a rocket attack in Ashdod, Israel, on Monday. (Ahmad Gharabli/AFP via Getty Images)

Palestinians mourn alongside the bodies of those killed in Israeli airstrikes in Gaza City on Monday. (Mohammed Salem/Reuters)

A man reacts as he works to remove bodies from under the rubble of a house in the southern Gaza Strip on Monday. (Ibraheem Abu Mustafa/Reuters)

Palestinians inspect the rubble of the Yassin Mosque destroyed after it was hit by an Israeli airstrike at the Shati refugee camp in Gaza City early Monday. (Adel Hana/AP)

Palestinians sit on a street in Gaza City near the Watan Tower, which was destroyed in Israeli airstrikes on Sunday. (Mohammed Salem/Reuters)

Explainer-Israel-Palestinian dispute hinges on statehood, land, Jerusalem, refugees

Reuters
Tue, October 10, 2023 

A view shows houses and buildings destroyed by Israeli strikes in Gaza City


(Reuters) - The fighting between Israel and Hamas, which launched a surprise attack on Saturday, is the latest in seven decades of war and conflict between Israelis and Palestinians that has drawn in outside powers and destabilised the wider Middle East.

WHAT ARE THE ORIGINS OF THE CONFLICT?

The conflict pits Israeli demands for security in what it has long regarded as a hostile region against Palestinian aspirations for a state of their own.

Israel's founding father David Ben-Gurion proclaimed the modern State of Israel on May 14, 1948, establishing a safe-haven for Jews fleeing persecution and seeking a national home on land to which they cite deep ties over generations.

Palestinians lament Israel's creation as the Nakba, or catastrophe, that resulted in their dispossession and blocked their dreams of statehood.

In the war that followed, some 700,000 Palestinians, half the Arab population of what was British-ruled Palestine, fled or were driven from their homes, ending up in Jordan, Lebanon and Syria as well as in Gaza, the West Bank and East Jerusalem.

Israel, a close U.S. ally, contests the assertion it drove Palestinians from their homes and points out it was attacked by five Arab states the day after its creation. Armistice pacts halted the fighting in 1949 but there was no formal peace.

Palestinians who stayed put in the war today form the Arab Israeli community, making up about 20% of Israel's population.

WHAT MAJOR WARS HAVE BEEN FOUGHT SINCE THEN?

In 1967, Israel made a pre-emptive strike against Egypt and Syria, launching the Six-Day War. Israel has occupied the West Bank, Arab East Jerusalem, which it captured from Jordan, and Syria's Golan Heights ever since.

In 1973, Egypt and Syria attacked Israeli positions along the Suez Canal and Golan Heights, beginning the Yom Kippur War. Israel pushed both armies back within three weeks.

Israel invaded Lebanon in 1982 and thousands of Palestinian fighters under Yasser Arafat were evacuated by sea after a 10-week siege. In 2006, war erupted in Lebanon again when Hezbollah militants captured two Israeli soldiers and Israel retaliated.

In 2005 Israel quit Gaza, which it had captured from Egypt in 1967. But Gaza saw major flare-ups in 2006, 2008, 2012, 2014 and 2021 that involved Israeli air raids and Palestinian rocket fire, and sometimes also cross border incursions by either side.

As well as wars, there have been two Palestinian intifadas or uprisings between 1987-1993 and again in 2000-05. The second saw waves of Hamas suicide bombings against Israelis.

WHAT ATTEMPTS HAVE THERE BEEN TO MAKE PEACE?

In 1979, Egypt and Israel signed a peace treaty, ending 30 years of hostility. In 1993, Israeli Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin and Arafat shook hands on the Oslo Accords on limited Palestinian autonomy. In 1994, Israel signed a peace treaty with Jordan.

The Camp David summit of 2000 saw President Bill Clinton, Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Barak and Arafat fail to reach a final peace deal.

In 2002, an Arab plan offered Israel normal ties with all Arab countries in return for a full withdrawal from the lands it took in the 1967 Middle East war, creation of a Palestinian state and a "just solution" for Palestinian refugees.

Peace efforts have been stalled since 2014, when talks failed between Israelis and Palestinians in Washington.

Palestinians later boycotted dealings with the administration of U.S. President Donald Trump since it reversed decades of U.S. policy by refusing to endorse the two-state solution - the peace formula that envisages a Palestinian state established in territory that Israel captured in 1967.

WHERE DO PEACE EFFORTS STAND NOW?

The administration of U.S. President Joe Biden has focused on trying to secure a "grand bargain" in the Middle East that includes normalisation of relations between Israel and Saudi Arabia, custodian of Islam's two holiest shrines.

The latest war is diplomatically awkward for Riyadh as well as for other Arab states, including some Gulf Arab states next to Saudi Arabia, that have signed peace deals with Israel.

WHAT ARE THE MAIN ISRAELI-PALESTINIAN ISSUES?

A two-state solution, Israeli settlements, the status of Jerusalem, and refugees are at the core of the dispute.

Two-state solution - an agreement that would create a state for the Palestinians in the West Bank and Gaza Strip alongside Israel. Hamas rejects the two-state solution and is sworn to Israel's destruction. Israel has said a Palestinian state must be demilitarised so as not to threaten Israel.

Settlements - Most countries deem Jewish settlements built on land Israel occupied in 1967 as illegal. Israel disputes this and cites historical and Biblical ties to the land. Their continued expansion is among the most contentious issues between Israel, the Palestinians and the international community.

Jerusalem - Palestinians want East Jerusalem, which includes sites sacred to Muslims, Jews and Christians, to be the capital of their state. Israel says Jerusalem should remain its "indivisible and eternal" capital. Israel's claim to the eastern part of Jerusalem is not recognised internationally. Trump recognised Jerusalem as Israel's capital – without specifying the extent of its jurisdiction in the disputed city - and moved the U.S. embassy there in 2018.

Refugees - Today about 5.6 million Palestinian refugees - mainly descendants of those who fled in 1948 - live in Jordan, Lebanon, Syria, the Israeli-occupied West Bank and Gaza. About half of registered refugees remain stateless, according to the Palestinian foreign ministry, many living in crowded camps.

Palestinians have long demanded that refugees should be allowed to return, along with millions of their descendants. Israel says any resettlement of Palestinian refugees must occur outside of its borders.

(Compiled by Reuters journalists; Editing by Edmund Blair)

Opinion: How Netanyahu's political calculations resulted in catastrophe

Shlomo Ben-Ami
Tue, October 10, 2023

Damage from Israeli airstrikes in Gaza City on Tuesday. (Ahmad Hasaballah / Getty Images)

Sooner or later, Israeli Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu’s destructive political magic, which has kept him in power for 15 years, was bound to usher in a major tragedy. A year ago, he formed the most radical and incompetent government in Israel’s history. Don’t worry, he assured his critics, I have “two hands firmly on the steering wheel.”

But by ruling out any political process in Palestine and boldly asserting, in his government’s guidelines, that “the Jewish people have an exclusive and inalienable right to all parts of the Land of Israel,” Netanyahu’s fanatical government made bloodshed inevitable.

Admittedly, blood flowed in Palestine even when peace-seekers such as Yitzhak Rabin and Ehud Barak were in office. But Netanyahu recklessly invited violence by paying his coalition partners any price for their support. He let them grab Palestinian lands, expand illegal settlements, scorn Muslim sensibilities regarding the sacred mosque on the Temple Mount, and promote suicidal delusions about the reconstruction of the biblical Temple in Jerusalem. Meanwhile, he also sidelined the more moderate Palestinian leadership of Mahmoud Abbas in the West Bank, effectively beefing up the radical Hamas in Gaza.

Read more: Palestinians scramble for safety as Israel pounds sealed-off Gaza Strip

According to Netanyahu’s twisted logic, strong Islamist rule in Gaza would be the ultimate argument against a political solution in Palestine. By rewarding the extremists and castigating the moderates, Netanyahu believed that he, unlike the soft leftists, had finally found the solution to the conflict. The Abraham Accords, which normalized Israel’s relations with four Arab states (and will probably soon include Saudi Arabia), blinded him to the Palestinian volcano beneath his feet.

But, in the ruthless, barbaric massacre of Israeli civilians in the villages surrounding Gaza, Netanyahu’s hubris met its nemesis in the form of Hamas’ savagery. Fifty years and a day after Egypt and Syria launched their surprise attack in what became known as the Yom Kippur War, Hamas stormed Gaza’s borders with Israel and slaughtered hundreds of defenseless civilians.

Many have expressed surprise that Hamas so easily penetrated Israel’s defenses along the border with Gaza. But there were no such defenses. When Hamas began slaughtering hundreds of defenseless civilians, Israel’s glorious army was mostly deployed elsewhere. Many were assigned to the West Bank to protect religious settlers in clashes (sometimes initiated by the settlers themselves) with local Palestinians, and in festivals around their shrines.

Read more: Op-Ed: Netanyahu's return to power with a coalition of racists is appalling. But Israel's problem runs deeper

The assumption was always that Gaza was not a vital priority. An underground wall of sensors and fortified concrete that Israel has built around the enclave was supposed to block the tunnels through which Hamas tried in the past to penetrate Israeli border villages. It was of no use. Hamas militias simply stormed the fences on the surface.

The attack by Hamas was not just a tactical surprise, but also a strategic bombshell. In the last two years, Hamas was creating the impression that it was becoming a government more interested in meeting its people’s material needs than in presumably ineffective armed resistance. And the Israelis believed what they wanted to believe: that subsidies from Qatar and their own gestures would dissuade Hamas from future military adventures.

And now what? Restore deterrence? How, exactly? Self-punishment in the form of a renewed occupation of Gaza? A land invasion is difficult to imagine. The atrocious level of destruction and casualties this would entail is one reason, with the many Israeli hostages now in Gaza providing additional insurance. The risk of Hezbollah opening an additional front from Lebanon in the north is another. Hezbollah’s capabilities dwarf those of Hamas, and a two-front war, with Iran possibly backing Israel’s foes, is an apocalyptic scenario.

This is why President Biden warned Israel’s enemies “not to exploit the crisis.” To drive home the point, Biden has ordered a Navy aircraft carrier group to the eastern Mediterranean.

Read more: Opinion: There has never been a worse crisis in Israel's democracy, or a greater need for reform

But then when has the Israel-Palestine conflict ever responded to logic?

We learned from Clausewitz that war is supposed to make sense in the context of a political objective. Hamas’ current war has such objectives: securing its hegemony in the Palestinian national movement, freeing its men from Israeli prisons by trading hostages for them, and preventing Palestine’s plight from being forsaken by the “Arab brethren” in their rush to normalize relations with the Jewish state. For Netanyahu’s government, however, this is a purely reactive war with no political objective beyond that of reaching a pause until the next round of hostilities.

When the fighting ends, negotiations for an exchange of hostages and prisoners are inevitable. Possibly, the clearly ineffective blockade on Gaza should be lifted. In any case, a different question will remain: whether the barbarity that the Hamas militias displayed in the killing fields around Gaza is the right path to Palestinian redemption. Their moment of supposed glory will live in infamy for many years to come.

Shlomo Ben-Ami, a former Israeli foreign minister, is the author of “Prophets Without Honor: The 2000 Camp David Summit and the End of the Two-State Solution.”

This story originally appeared in Los Angeles Times.

 

The E.U.’s top diplomat says some of Israel’s actions in Gaza are ‘contrary’ to international law.

Image

Smoke billowed from the site of an Israeli strike in Gaza City on Monday.Credit...Samar Abu Elouf for The New York Times

The European Union’s top diplomat on Tuesday offered the first public hint of criticism of Israel from a Western ally since the country suffered a devastating surprise attack launched from Gaza on Saturday, saying that some of Israel’s retaliatory actions were against international humanitarian law.

The official, Josep Borrell Fontelles, said that “Israel has the right” to defend itself, but that it had to be done in accordance “with international law, humanitarian law, and some decisions are contrary to international law.” He was speaking to reporters after convening an emergency meeting of all 27 E.U. foreign ministers to discuss the bloc’s position on the conflict, a session that took place at the margins of an E.U. meeting with Gulf countries in Muscat, Oman.

He also stressed the E.U.’s condemnation of Hamas, describing its attacks as “mass murder of civilians.”

The comments demonstrated the fine line the European Union is attempting to navigate between supporting Israel, a key ally that the bloc has grown significantly closer to in recent years in the face of mass terrorism, and standing by the Palestinian civilian population, a long-term core policy of the bloc.

Mr. Borrell also offered assurances that aid to Palestinians from the European Union — their largest benefactor — would continue to flow, saying that suspending it would play into Hamas’s hands. And he called for “no blockage of water, food or electricity to the civilian population in Gaza,” and to open humanitarian corridors to facilitate people escaping to Egypt.

His comments came a day after Israel ordered a “complete siege” of the Gaza Strip, with its defense minister, Yoav Gallant, saying that “no electricity, no food, no water, no fuel” would be allowed in. Israel has responded to Saturday’s attack with a barrage of airstrikes in Gaza that it says targeted Hamas centers of operation; Gazans say that the strikes have been indiscriminate and that they have nowhere to escape to.

Mr. Borrell’s reassurances on humanitarian aid appeared meant to end any confusion after contradictory statements by E.U. officials on Monday created the impression that the bloc was moving to suspend most of its aid to the Palestinians.

The E.U. has earmarked more than $1 billion for the Palestinian civilian population between 2021 and 2024. The money is directed to the United Nations and other agencies that offer services, food and medical aid to civilians, and also directly funds the Palestinian Authority.

Mr. Borrell said that, after talking to all E.U. ministers, “an overwhelming majority, with maybe two or three exceptions, of the member states, stated clearly that the cooperation with the Palestinian Authority has to continue and the funding has to continue and the payments should not be interrupted.”

“Not all the Palestinian people are terrorists,” he added. “So a collective punishment against all Palestinians will be unfair and unproductive, will be against our interest and against the interest of the peace.”

SILVER LINING

European Union reverses earlier announcement that it was suspending development aid to Palestinians

The Canadian Press
Mon, October 9, 2023 



BRUSSELS (AP) — The European Union late Monday reversed an earlier announcement by an EU commissioner that the bloc was “immediately” suspending development aid for Palestinian authorities and instead said it would urgently review such assistance in the wake of the attacks on Israel by Hamas to make sure no money was misused.

“There will be no suspension of payments” at the moment, a terse European Commission statement said late Monday, five hours after EU Commissioner Oliver Varhelyi had said that all payments from the development program for Palestinians would be “immediately suspended. All projects put under review. All new budget proposals … postponed until further notice.”

No immediate explanation for the reversal was given. A full European Commission statement always trumps a statement from an EU commissioner, but the reversal on a 691 million-euro ($730 million) program capped an embarrassing day at the EU’s executive at a time of extreme geopolitical sensitivities.

Since Saturday, support of the 27-nation bloc for Israel had been steadfast, including that the country had now every right within international law to defend itself in the war with Hamas.

The surprise announcement by Varhelyi on development aid came just hours after EU officials stressed that no EU money whatsoever was going to Hamas in the first place and that contacts had been frozen for 16 years. The EU considers Hamas a terror group.

After hours of uncertainty over how deep the measures would reach and whether they would possibly also affect aid to those in immediate need, the European Commission said there was no suspension for now, but said it started “an urgent review of the EU's assistance for Palestine.”

“The objective of this review is to ensure that no EU funding indirectly enables any terrorist organization to carry out attacks against Israel,” the statement said. The EU says it already has very strict rules in place to screen and vet beneficiaries and to make sure no such funds are made available to terrorists.

The statement said that the European Commission would “equally review if, in light of the changed circumstances on the ground, its support (programs) to the Palestinian population and to the Palestinian Authority need to be adjusted.”

And EU foreign policy chief Josep Borrell also criticized Varhelyi, insisting that “the suspension of the payments — punishing all the Palestinian people — would have damaged the EU interests in the region and would have only further emboldened terrorists.”

The EU says it's the biggest donor to the Palestinian people and has been advocating for years for the two-state approach that has guided international diplomacy since the 1993 Oslo peace accords between Israel and the Palestine Liberation Organization.

Some of its programs though have been dogged by allegations that funds could be siphoned off for unintended use.

EU foreign ministers are slated to meet in Muscat, Oman, and by videoconference on Tuesday to discuss the situation and determine what actions should be taken.

“The foundations for peace, tolerance and coexistence must now be addressed. Incitement to hatred, violence and glorification of terror have poisoned the minds of too many,” Varhelyi wrote.

During an earlier briefing Monday, the European Commission sought to draw a clear line between Hamas, which it considers a terrorist organization, and the Palestinian people, who are in need of humanitarian aid. The commission said that humanitarian aid wouldn't be affected by the review.

According to the bloc, it has provided humanitarian aid to help meet Palestinians’ basic needs since 2000 through the European Commission’s humanitarian aid department (ECHO) and the U.N. Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA). Since 2000, ECHO has provided 700 million euros of humanitarian aid to Palestinians in the Gaza Strip and the West Bank.

The EU’s most populous member, Germany, and its neighbor Austria, said they were suspending development aid for the Palestinian areas for the moment.

The Development Ministry in Berlin said there was no direct German financing of the Palestinian Authority, but a total of 250 million euros ($265 million) is currently pledged in German aid — half of that for bilateral projects via Germany’s overseas aid agency and development bank and the other half for the U.N. agency for the Palestinians, UNRWA.

Like the European Commission, Development Minister Svenja Schulze said in a statement that Germany took great care that its aid for Palestinians “serves peace and not the terrorists.”

“But these attacks on Israel are a terrible watershed, so we will review our whole commitment to the Palestinian areas,” she added.

Schulze said that Germany wants above all to discuss with Israel “how we can best serve peace in the region and security for Israel with our development projects.” She noted that Israel also has an interest in Palestinians being able to live in long-term stability, and said Germany will also coordinate with its international partners.

Germany isn't suspending the humanitarian aid it provides separately via international nongovernmental organizations and the U.N., the Foreign Ministry said. Ministry spokesperson Christian Wagner said Monday that much of the 72 million euros pledged this year has been paid out, and payments will continue because they support “life-saving work.”

Austrian Foreign Minister Alexander Schallenberg told Oe1 radio on Monday that all development aid payments will be “put on ice for now.” He put the funds affected at about 19 million euros.

He said that Austria will review all projects with the Palestinian areas and consult with its international partners on further steps.

___

Samuel Petrequin in Brussels, and Geir Moulson in Berlin, contributed to this report.

Raf Casert, The Associated Press

Russia says it's talking to both Israel and Palestinians as Putin blames failure of US policy


Reuters
Tue, October 10, 2023

MOSCOW, Oct 10 (Reuters) - Russian President Vladimir Putin on Tuesday said the explosion of violence between Israel and the Palestinians showed the failure of U.S. policy in the Middle East, and the Kremlin said it was in touch with both the warring sides.

Putin's spokesman said Moscow would seek to play a role in resolving the conflict, but did not specify how. Instead, Putin took the opportunity to blame the sharp escalation on years of U.S. policy in the region.

"I think that many people will agree with me that this is a vivid example of the failure of United States policy in the Middle East," Putin told visiting Iraqi Prime Minister Mohammed Shia Al-Sudani.

Putin said the United States had sought to "monopolise" international efforts at forging peace, and accused Washington of neglecting to seek compromises that would be acceptable to both sides.

The United States, Putin said, had ignored the interests of Palestinians, including their need for their own independent Palestinian state.

He did not mention Russia's own role in the Middle East peace process over the years. Along with the United States, the United Nations and the European Union, it has since 2002 formed part of a "Quartet" of powers charged with helping to mediate.

Israel is pounding Gaza with the fiercest air strikes in the 75-year history of its conflict with the Palestinians, in response to a wave of deadly Hamas attacks at the weekend. Moscow has said it is worried that the violence could escalate into a broader conflict in the Middle East.

Since the latest crisis erupted, the Kremlin has sought to appear even-handed, underlining the strength of its relations with both sides.

Moscow has long-standing ties with the Palestinians, including Hamas, which last sent a senior delegation for talks in Moscow in March. But it also has "a lot in common" with Israel, including the fact that many Israelis are former Russian citizens, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said.

"Therefore, we maintain relations with both sides of this conflict. We conduct contacts and take part in all the - unfortunately few - formats that are looking for common ground for a settlement and which do not work very effectively, as recent practice has shown," he said.

"But nevertheless we intend to keep making efforts and play our role in terms of providing assistance to seek ways to a settlement."

Peskov said the Kremlin was trying to establish whether any Russians were among the dozens of hostages taken by Hamas.

"The necessary contacts are being made in order to understand whether this is true or not and what the future fate of these people is," he said.

Peskov said a suggestion by Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy that it was in Russia's interests to stoke war in the Middle East to weaken global unity had "absolutely no basis".

"This is a long-standing conflict, the Palestinian-Israeli conflict, which has very deep roots, many deep contradictions. Many people know the backstory, but it is so deep that not everyone knows the nuances," he said. 

(Reporting by Reuters; Writing by Mark Trevelyan; Editing by Sharon Singleton)